Terri Schiavo's death

But what is unclear is whether Terri Schiavo would have chosen to die, in such a state, if she could have told us.

And as the President says, we should err on the side of life. I'll agree to that.

But it also seems to me that the Schindler family had seven years to convince any of several different courts that Michael Schiavo's case was in error. They did not.

What's left to determine is if Terri would have chosen to die through slow starvation/dehydration. If she is as incapable of cognition as the doctors tell us, it might not be a bad way to die at all -- drifting into a heavy sleep.

If she is as conscious as the Schindler's would have us believe, it would be awful and agonizing.

So what I really object to is the possibility that Terri's death was slow and painful. Once it has been determined that Terri doesn't, or wouldn't want to live, oughtn't we ensure a quick and painless death?

Tuesday, March 29, 2005

Just keeping you updated

Moscow to Invoke “Hangman” to Punish Warsaw for Dudayev Square

In response to Warsaw’s initiative to name a square in Warsaw after the slain Chechen separatist leader Dzhokhar Dudayev, Moscow authorities threatened to rename Klimashkin Street in Moscow where the embassy of Poland is situated after General Mikhail Muravyov, nicknamed the “hangman” for his ruthless suppression of the Polish uprising of 1863.

The Moscow City Duma willingly agreed to prepare what the Foreign Ministry called “a symmetric response” to Warsaw’s move.

On Wednesday Vladimir Platonov, speaker of the Moscow City Duma, and Mayor Yuri Luzhkov signed a joint statement denouncing the initiative of the Warsaw city authorities as “an unfriendly gesture and open provocation,” the Vremya Novostei newspaper reports.

In comments for the paper Platonov said that Moscow would consider renaming Klimashkin Street in Moscow where the embassy of Poland is situated after General Mikhail Muravyov, nicknamed the “hangman” for his ruthless suppression of the Polish uprising of 1863.

Earlier this week Russia’s Foreign Ministry called the decision to name a square in Warsaw after the slain Chechen separatist leader Dzhokhar Dudayev an insult to the memory of the victims of terrorist attacks.

“The decision of the Warsaw city council endorsing an initiative of deputies representing the party Law and Justice (PiS) and supported by the city president Lech Kaczynski… cannot but cause indignation,” the ministry’s statement was quoted by Russian Information Agency Novosti.

The ministry said this decision insults the memory of the Russian people, terror victims in Moscow and other Russian cities, and virtually supports international terrorism “one of the adherents of which in the North Caucasus was the leader of the Chechen separatists and national extremists killed nine years ago”.

The ministry noted that although the initiative belonged to the Polish opposition, it fit in a chain of “unfriendly steps towards our country as did recent statements by officials in Warsaw in connection with the killing of Aslan Maskhadov, the direct heir of Dudayev’s business”.

Dzhokhar Dudayev was the first president of Chechnya. Soon after being elected he claimed Chechen independence from Russia. This led to the first Chechen war. Dudayev was killed in April 1996.

Tuesday, March 22, 2005

Polish Military Court Convicts Officer Of Spying For US

WARSAW (AP)--A military court sentenced a former Polish military intelligence officer to five years in prison on charges of spying for the U.S. in the 1990s after the fall of communism, a court spokesman said Monday.

The suspect, identified only as Zbigniew Sz., was sentenced Friday after being convicted of collaborating with the CIA in 1993-96 while he served as a military attache in Washington D.C., spokesman Janusz Kogut said.

The Warsaw-based court made the verdict public Monday, but Kogut refused to give further more details, citing the "protected nature" of the case.

Moscow outraged by plans to name Warsaw street after Dudayev

Moscow has described as insulting the Warsaw City Council's decision to name one of the city's crossroads after Chechen separatist leader Dzhokhar Dudayev, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement circulated on Monday.

"The Warsaw City Council's decision, which was initiated by deputies from the Law and Justice Party and backed by the mayor of Warsaw, to name one of the crossroads after Dudayev is outrageous," the comment says.

This move cannot be regarded as anything other than an attempt to "insult the memory of Russians - victims of terrorist acts in Moscow and other Russian cities - and a show of support for international terrorism and for one of its adepts in the North Caucasus - the leader of Chechen separatist and national-extremists, who was killed 9 years ago," the statement says.

"Although initiated by forces opposing the current Polish leadership, the move continues a string of unfriendly moves towards Russia and follows the latest statements of Warsaw officials about the death of Aslan Maskhadov, a successor of Dudayev whose memory the city's 'fathers' decided to immortalize," the document says.

Considering the positive development of relations in many areas, this a matter for regret, the statement says.

Monday, March 21, 2005

Elections ahead

With Poland gearing up for -- count them -- three different votes this year (Parliamentary, Presidential, EU Constitution), probably all this fall, it's time to take a look at the political situation before the real campaigning begins. For an excellent summary, check out The Economist's last country report on Poland.

As regular WS readers know, the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD), a group of former communist party officials and socialists, has more or less self-destructed over several high-profile scandals and 2002-2003's economic stagnation that led to Prime Minister Leszek ("LEH-shek") Miller's resignation last year. After gaining 41% in 2001's Parliamentary elections, the party is now only holding together because it's still in power.

But just barely. Since Miller's resignation the day after Poland's entry into the EU last May, the SLD has effectively split in two, with Marek Borowski ("MA-rek" "bor-OV-ski") leading some of the unsullied members into a new party, named Polish Social-Democracy (SdPl). He failed however, to land some of the biggest names in the party -- such as President Aleksander Kwaśniewski, new Prime Minister Marek Belka, and Economy Minister Jerzy Hausner. These three are moderate when it comes to fiscal policy: Mr Hausner's plan to reform public finances was ambitious, and aimed to cut some zł. 54 ($17.8) billion -- mostly from bloated state pension funds.

And it now seems that yet another party, the Democratic (yes) Party (PD), is where they will land. This group has been founded by the leader of the Freedom Union (UW), Władysław Forsiniuk, and already looks to be SLD's successor on the left. It has a strong 6-12% (depending on the poll) level of support if the election were held today. They're attracting moderates: their gain has come at the cost of Citizen's Platform (PO -- the center-right majority in waiting), which now has only 22% support, down from 28%.

Hausner has already joined the party, and Belka is too, as of Saturday. When Hausner submitted his resignation from his dual-post as Deputy Prime Minister/Economy Minister two weeks ago (which Belka still hasn't rejected or accepted), he announced to the press: "This does not mean the end of my cooperation with Marek Belka." Belka has since said that on May 5, his work as PM will be officially at an end -- he will resign. Along with that, he will call for the dissolution of Parliament that day, paving the way for elections by June. However, it looks as if he doesn't have enough support for the proposal within his own party. SLD officials estimate that 20-30 of their delegates may defect and vote for dissolution, but even if that happened on May 5, the earliest elections could be held is late July. To avoid costing the state several million złoty, most parties will by then probably agree to have elections in September, as dictated in the constitution.

A pity. If elections fall in the autumn, it will probably only benefit Self-Defense (SO) and the League of Polish Families (LPR), two extremist parties, the former populist and the latter right-wing. Both are anti-EU, and both have gained up to 17% and 15% of the public's support in recent polls.

Citizen's Platform (PO) will surely win a plurality in the electoins -- the only question is by how much. 25% should be the line at which they're judged. More than that will be deemed a success, less -- a failure; A later election works against them. PO wants to institute a flat VAT (value added tax) and a flat income tax -- they're talking about 15%, but if they manage to pull it off, a more realistic outcome is probably 18-19%.

PO is led by a man named Jan Rokita. He is perhaps the least charasmatic, and most frustrating of the bunch. Stubborn, autocratic, and more conservative than most in his party, I'm not looking forward to having him as Prime Minister. Then again, he's much better than Andrzej Lepper ("AHND-jay") ("LEP-per"), leader of SO, or Roman Giertych ("GYER-tikh"), the LPR's man in charge.

That's our overview of the political situation as it stands now, and gives us some idea of what the Parliament will look like. Stay tuned -- next up WS will bring you the details on the Presidential election -- who's in, what their stance is, and what it means for Polish-American relations.

Monday, March 14, 2005

Russia Made Poland Apologize

Last weekend Russia and Poland tried to ease the scandal produced by the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. They commented on the murder of Aslan Maskhadov, a leader of Chechen separatists. Warsaw apologized for crack-brained utterance of the official representative of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Moscow accepted an apology.

The scandal broke on March 9, the next day the information on Maskhadov’s death appeared. Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs was one of the first who reacted on the happening. Alexander Checko, the official representative of the Polish diplomacy, expressed regret in connection with the death of Ichkeria president. He said the killed was the only high ranked representative it was possible to negotiate with. “The one who has ordered to kill him doesn’t want to conclude a peaceful agreement. That is not just a crime. That is political stupidity and a big mistake.”

It took Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs 24 hours to realize what Checko had said. Finaly, on Thursday, Russian ministry made up their declaration. “As it is known, Maskhadov gave orders to commit acts of terrorism in Beslan, Moscow and other cities of Russia. He is responsible for the deaths of the thousands of people, including children. The Polish ministry has a perverted sense of peaceful processes once they say that Maskhadov was striving to peacefully regulate the situation.” Moscow was wondering if Poland would regret on the death of Shamil Basayev or Osama Bin Laden.

The scandal reached Madrid, where Polish Prime Minister, Marek Belka came for the international meeting dedicated to the struggle with terror. According to Belka, the Polish diplomat gave a dramatic turn to an incident above measure. He just wanted to say that the Chechen problem is being solved only by means of rifles. “We never justified the crimes the Chechen terrorists had committed against Russian people.”

Later it became known that Sergei Lavrov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia called his Polish colleague Adam Rotfeld. Rotfeld only expressed regret and said that this was not the official position of Warsaw.

Then Sergei Yastrzhembsky, Russian president's special representative on relations with the EU, said: “Polish comments on the death of Aslan Maskhadov cause bewilderment. Apparently the one, who estimated the event didn’t know, didn’t understand or didn’t want to understand the role of Maskhadov. It’s necessary to puzzle out the subject before making declarations.” He also added that it’s quite often that Polish elite judges the present that is seen through the perspective of years. "The historical experience of the past gives a deformed vision of the present quite often.”

It's not just the Polish elite. Sheesh -- 50 years of vicious oppression and the Poles are still accusing the Russians of brutality?

In the spring of 1940, about 4,500 of these officers were taken by their Soviet captors to the Katyn forest. Most were then gagged, bound, shot once in the head and buried on the spot. The other Polish POWs were taken to other locations, where many of them were also executed. The mass liquidation killed off much of Poland's intelligentsia and facilitated the Soviet takeover of the nation.

Is it any wonder the Poles are so critical?

Look, I don't know whether Maskhadov was behind Beslan, et. al. or not. (Perhaps one of the WS readers can provide us with a link to hard evidence -- or at least the reasons behind the accusations.)

But while Rotfeld may have later apologized, we all know that he didn't want to -- and no one here thought he was out of line either -- mostly because everybody here knows exactly what kind of heavy handed-measures the Russians are capable of, and is sure the Russians are engaging in it them in Chechnya, whether Maskhadov in particular was guilty or not.

Another broken promise?

Poland A.M.:

US budget bungling means funds for Polish arms have not been set aside

The U.S. draft budget for 2006 does not encompass USD 100 million aid President George Bush promised to the Polish army. It is said that the reason behind this is that the US Department of State failed to fully inform the budget commission about setting up the so-called solidarity fund, which would have had about USD 400 million at its disposal to grant financial aid to the armies of less wealthy countries taking part in the stabilizing mission in Iraq. US authorities explained they were not able to include the solidarity fund in the draft budget because the motion they received was toogeneral. Among one of the problems was its lack of information on how the funds would be distributed to specific countries. The White House is to complete the motion and submit it to the Senate, which is the next authority.

George and Condi -- Do they just promise whatever they want and then renege on it later?

Saturday, March 12, 2005

Concerned about Americans in debt?

In elections held from 2000 to 2004, the top ten credit card companies contributed the following amounts to various campaigns (amounts are rounded, in millions). These amounts do not include the millions they spend on lobbyists. --BCS Alliance

Friday, March 11, 2005

Russia Lashes out at Poland Over Maskhadov Comments

Moscow is perplexed by a statement from Polish Foreign Ministry official representative Aleksander Checko, who called the murder of the Chechen separatist leader Aslan Maskhadov “a political stupidity and a gross mistake”, the Russian Foreign Ministry’s information and press department said in a commentary published on an official Web site Thursday.

Maskhadov, the document says, had the blood of thousands of Russian people, including children, on his hands, because it’s widely known that terrorist attacks in Beslan, Moscow, and other Russian cities were committed at his direct orders. “If all this is called Maskhadov’s efforts towards a political settlement in Chechnya, Poland evidently has a distorted view of processes of this kind and the fight against international terrorism on the whole,” the Russian Foreign Ministry claims.

“A question arises: will Poland use analogous phrases to regret the elimination of murderous terrorist Shamil Basayev, who is on the UN antiterrorist sanction list, or Osama bin Laden?” the statement reads.

I don't know what this is all about, but Checko (who I have never heard of before) is getting backup from his boss, Foreign Minister Adam Rotfeld. A quick glance at Polish news shows he said something like this (my own rough translation):

"The crime committed by terrorists in Russia, in Chechnya, and in Beslan deserve the sharpest words of condemnation. For the criminals who "had the blood of thousands of Russian people, including children on their hands" there is no justification. The thing is, Aslan Maskhadov was horrified at the tragedy in Beslan. He may have been the only Chechen elected president who wanted to seek an agreement. The terrorist Shamil Basayev is not a partner for discussions."

Rotfeld (search) has been stirring things up since he took over for Cimoszewicz (now speaker of the Sejm, Poland's lower house of parliament). He's recently been crying bloody murder over some Polish publisher's decision to release Mein Kampf. -- Given our recent discussions, you can imagine what I think of that.

This has huge implications on Kwasniewski's trip to Russia to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Yalta. Obviously, the Poles consider Yalta the great betrayal, and its aftermath a 45-year tragedy, so his plans have stirred up quite some controversy.

Relations are still tense after the Ukraine crisis, and while Kwasniewski agreed to go grudgingly -- "We want to talk about the gratitude for those who freed Europe with blood, but also about the political decisions which were then taken and cast a shadow over the fate of nations, such as Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Poland" -- it was hoped that this would help push relations in a warmer direction.

If Belka backs up Rotfeld, there is certainly no hope of that, at least not in the near future.

Thursday, March 10, 2005

Blogger problems

Seems Blogger is having some problems today, at least on my side. Namely, I'm having trouble opening the comment box (more comment problems...).

Fortunately I can read them via email too, so I've read them, all great.

Seems to me we mostly agree on the censorship issue. DC made the point that we put arbitrary standards on everything, and I agree -- perhaps I can stand movie ratings, and restricting when some content can be broadcast -- but wonder if we shouldn't let the market determine those standards. Before everyone starts yelling about reality tv 24 hours a day, consider the increasing popularity of educational channels such as National Geographic and Discovery. There's also public television -- which I'm a big fan of -- to promote a society's standards.

If you don't like what's on TV, TURN IT OFF. Get rid of your cable. The answer is not to ban it or 'regulate' it, which I am against, the answer is to not partake. Same with movies, clothes, and TV personalities. If you object to what a 'star' thinks, don't support them so that they are an icon with a platform to be able to do that.

Let it never be said that we can't agree dc.

As for blogging fatigue -- it's an easy bug to catch. I already spend most of my day in front of a computer at work. Doing it at home drives my friends and loved ones nuts. Coming up with new content is also an evil task if you're trying to do it every day, which is why I don't. For now I've tried to give a mix of my own content with articles or bits of news of interest, but rarely is there a week that goes by with a post every day. That's how I plan WS to stay, except perhaps during US or Polish election seasons. However, now that I've got my template more or less how I like it, I do plan to reduce the unoriginal content and increase the original. Still, if you're checking WS every day for a new post, you might be disappointed.

Posts at Redneck's Revenge might be even rarer -- when posting on someone else's blog it's important to make sure you've got really good material. And in my case, I better be damn well prepared.

Hausner resigns

Deputy Prime Minister and Economy Minister Jerzy Hausner yesterday submitted his resignation to Prime Minister Marek Belka, who accepted the decision, however did not state exactly when Minister Hausner would leave the government. Most probably he will be replaced by Jacek Piechota, the current secretary of state in the Economy Ministry. "My withdrawal from the government does not mean I am breaking off with Marek Belka," commented Hausner, suggesting that the Prime Minister will soon join the Democratic Party. By submitting his resignation, Hausner will not have to take part in the Sejm's voting for his dismissal, and therefore does not have a chance for becoming the first minister in history to be sacked by the government. Hausner was strongly criticized by the left as well as the right wing parties, and all current political powers wanted a vote of no confidence. "Jerzy Hausner was until now very busy working in the government, now he will at last have more time to build the Demoratic Party," said gladly the leader of the Freedom Union (UW), Władysław Frasyniuk.

Tuesday, March 08, 2005

Out of control

In his last comment about whether blogging is an ephemeral phenomenon or whether it's here to stay, wafflestomper, a regular WS commenter, made an interesting point, almost in passing, about "over-controlling governments" staying out of the net. His point was that blogging will remain popular, if outside forces, especially the government, don’t stifle the web with regulation.

Knowing stomper is a conservative, this drips with loaded meaning for me -- but when it comes to the internet (and media in general), I definitely agree.

It's too bad then, that the consensus in both parties seems to be for more censorship across the board. The Republicans want to tell me what my morality ought to be, and they want to keep smut away from my children -- regardless of how I decide to raise them or what I consider smut.

Partly because most vocal Hollywood personalities happen to be of a different political persuasion than Republicans, partly because of their fundamentalist Christian supporters, and partly because they've got bugs up their asses, Republicans are constantly decrying the evils of Hollywood. They'd have us believe that every movie portraying a criminal in anything but a damning light is a threat to the fiber of American morality and culture. We've already heard some GOP-ers readily support putting restrictions on similar types of content (or worse – porn!) found on the net.

And in a disturbing turn, the Democrats seem to agree. Lately DLC bloggers like Ed Kilgore and Bull Moose have been singing the praises of "economic progressives" who are also "social conservatives" – what Bull Moose calls "progressive traditionalists". They believe that in order to get in touch with Red America, Dems are going to have to get more socially conservative – starting with supporting the war in Iraq, and then clinging despererately to phrases like "marriage is between a man and a woman" and then supporting initiatives which would finally put a muzzle on Hollywood.

Take, for example, this Kilgore line I’ve been stewing over for the past two and a half months:

[Some Democrats claim] that any effort to promote some self-regulation of entertainment products amounts to censorship or even repression, as though the utterances of Paris Hilton, as opposed to those of Joe Camel, merit judicial protection.

.

Promote self-regulation? What exactly does that entail? – yelling at Hollywood until every film they release doesn't disgust Bill O'Reilly? That will be very effective, I'm sure. Then all us Dems can lie in our beds with calm hearts that we've satisfied the repressed Right, and now maybe some of them will vote for our side. Funny how "promoting self-regulation" often very quickly turns into just "regulation".

By the way, Joe Camel is a cartoon character who sells cigarettes to children, while Paris Hilton is an flesh-and-blood American citizen. So yes, I would argue that Paris Hilton’s utterances merit judicial protection, whereas Joe Camel's do not.

Used to be, the DLC promoted economic moderacy and social progressiveness. They believed in fiscal responsibility, business and global trade, but also in traditional Democratic social values, such as making education better and easier to obtain, equality for minorities, the strong separation of Church and State, and an unwavering defense of the First Amendment – Joe Lieberman nonwithstanding. Has the DLC finally transformed then into just another group of moderate Republicans?

I hope not. The "Democratic Wing" is no better. They’d censor the Fox News Channel if they got the chance.

Is this what America wants then? While all of us have found something distasteful on our radios, TVs or internet, are we all really so horrified that we are willing to smother our own creativity and slow the pace of technological advancement with government regulation?

And why is it so hard to find a "progressive realist?" socially progressive, economically moderate. Am I the only one?

The next PM

Yesterday, Jan Rokita, a leader of the Civic Platform (PO), during a meeting organized by the American Chamber of Commerce in Warsaw, described his future economic policies if he become prime minister.

He described himself as a liberal politician who strongly supports free market solutions and stated his government would make tackling the problems of public finance its top priority. Rokita would like to reform state expenditures mainly through reducing public spending in all areas except for health care. Rokita strongly advocated the introduction of a flat tax rate, however, he added the changes would have to be introduced gradually, with income taxes first being changed, followed by changes to VAT. Among the other priorities he mentioned were the reform of the judicial system. Rokita added he is against the appreciation of the złoty and will support pegging the exchange rate of the złoty to the euro.

Wednesday, March 02, 2005

A battle won

The Supreme Court ruled today, in one of the most closely watched capital punishment cases in years, that imposing the death penalty on convicted murderers who were younger than 18 at the time of their crimes is unconstitutional.

The 5-to-4 decision, arising from a Missouri case, holds that executing young killers violates "the evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society," and that American society has come to regard juveniles as less culpable than adult criminals.

The ruling, which acknowledged "the overwhelming weight of international opinion against the juvenile death penalty," erases the death sentences imposed on 72 defendants in 12 states who were juveniles at the time they killed. Although 19 states nominally permit the execution of juvenile murderers, only Texas, Virginia and Oklahoma have executed any in the past decade.

Pope's health quickly deteriorating
Terri Schiavo's death
And where are these self-righteous protesters when it comes to all of the awful unatural deaths in Sudan, for instance?
The irony here is too much for me.

Accusations of hypocrisy from a Polish guy, who subscribes to the ideals of the same groups of people chanting for "peace in our time" while thousands of Jews, Poles, Croatians, Bosnians, and Iraqis died by the thousands ring somewhat hollow with me.

Yes, I agree, there's hypocrisy, gus, but Christians have no monopoly on it.
David

First of all, I'm not a Polish guy, although I'll take that as a compliment. I'm an American, from Michigan. I've only been here in Poland for 4 years.

Who's saying Christians have a monopoly on hypocrisy?

As Red can tell you, I'm no pacifist, in the strictest sense of the word (I believe that force can and should be used sometimes -- but I usually disagree with Bush's decisions to use it).

But force is probably necessary in Sudan, and I would support it, if the political will for it would materialize.

I count myself a Christian too. These people are certainly not representative of most Christians I know -- so please don't mistake me for confusing this small group with Christians as a whole.

Thousands of Iraqis dying? Interesting point. I also didn't see these folks out protesting when Iraqis were dying because of Saddam's iron fist, nor when hundreds of thousands of civilians were dying from American bombs.

So maybe the hypocrisy is this: Is life only sacred when it's an American, or when a precedent on euthanasia seems destined to be set? Is it only Americans (not convicted of a crime punishable by death) who deserve a "culture of life"?
PS -- is it just me, or are you Johnnymozart's alter ego?

If not, what ever happened to him?
Yeah, for some reason, blogspot won't let me be "johnnymozart" in certain places.

The fact is, gustav, that these people do protest, write letters, etc. You just never hear about it. Its never reported in the media how much "right-to'life" organizations participate in adoptions and post-natal care. Just another lie, like the "hundreds of thousands of Iraqis killed by American bombs" canard, which has been refuted so frequently I'm surprised you're not more embarrassed to suggest it. That number comes from Iraqibodycount.com (among other places) that figure is no more reliable than the 100% of the vote Saddam Hussein got.

And the fact that you do betrays your insistence of not being a pacifist, although if I mischaracterized your statement as an attack on all Christians, I regret the assumption.
My problem was with the characterization of these people as uncaring for anything else but this. I think the furor over this was stoked by the concern over precedents and the inevitability of gradualism.

I have commented on RT's post more than once recently that these kind of cases bring a certain number of lunatics. All the people trying to give her water should be put away, if for no other reason but stupidity. (There was a reason she had a feeding tube, after all)

But gus, there is tragedy in the world enough to fill every hour of every day. And as I mentioned, there is hypocrisy enough on both sides. I think if you ask most of these people would be in favor of the military intervening in Sudan. But the reverse isn't true, and you know it. The same people worried about Iraqi deaths by American bombs were perfectly content to leave them at the mercies of Saddam Hussein.
BTW, I knew you were from Michigan, I guess I assumed because of your name that you were of European background.

What is your background? No polish blood at all?
Not a drop of Polish blood. Disappointing, now that I know about the bravery of the Poles that RT mentioned in an earlier thread

I am indeed of European extraction, northwestern Europe mostly: a long lind of Vikings, krauts and leprechauns.

The same people worried about Iraqi deaths by American bombs were perfectly content to leave them at the mercies of Saddam Hussein.

I beg to differ. Those folks were also Bill Clinton supporters, and he's the one who established the policy of regime change.

The problem with conservatives is that they believe that an unwillingness to go to war = "content to leave them at the mercies of Saddam Hussein". To me, the question is much more complicated, and it's much less clear whether living through war is better than living through the same period of time being ruled by Saddam, while peaceful mechanisms for his removal still existed. There are many more like me.

And the "hundred-thousand" number comes from a study done by Johns Hopkins. Of course, look up the "Lancet" report, and you'll find many who discredit it (Because their range was between 8,000 and 140,000). I find it hard to believe that the well-respected academics at JHU were content to just average those numbers. You can believe what you want.

Iraq body count puts the number between 17,000 and 19,000. Even if you take the most conservative estimate of 8,000, that's still over 5 civillians for every American death.

The Hopkins report claims the invasion in Iraq made the risk of death 2.5 times higher (than previously, when Iraqis were left to the mercy of Saddam)-- only 1.5 times higher not counting Falluja, et. al.

And that these folks who were protesting outside Terri Schavio's hospital come out in the SAME NUMBERS to protest other worldwide injustices is indeed news to me. A great lie too, if it hasn't been reported.

As for their adoption and post-natal care participation: It is laudable, but hardly impressive -- and not much of a news story. So much for the "great lie".

And can that participation somehow make up for their silence on the chance of dying in Iraq now 250% what it was under the reign of Saddam?

I don't think so.

"Content to leave them at the mercies of Saddam" my ass.Iraq body count puts the number between 17,000 and 19,000. Even if you take the most conservative estimate of 8,000, that's still over 5 civilians for every American death..

I hope you are not suggesting the American body count should have been much higher to bring freedom to the Iraqis.

Like it was in France, Germany, and Poland.

We killed 26000 people to "liberate" Saipan.

Can you think of any other example where so many where liberated from the oppression of a dictatorial government, with so few civilian casualties. What a striking success eh?
And I hope you're not suggesting that there ought to be more civilian deaths than military ones. The figure shows that this war was 5 times more dangerous for Iraqi citizens who we are there ostensibly to liberate, than for foreign troops fighting against ruthless insurgents. The American body count should not have been higher, of course. The civilian body count should have been lower. Is everything really being done to prevent "collateral damage," as civilian deaths are so humanely called?

Can you think of any other example where so many where liberated from the oppression of a dictatorial government, with so few civilian casualties?

Number of people dying in the meantime while liberals pretend that that isn't the case with failed "diplomacy"-

countless.

"Content to leave them at the mercies of Saddam" my ass.

And yet, you do. How many Iraqis died at the hands of liberals AND conservatives, as we tried to convince ourselves that there was an alternative to force to get rid of Hussein? Thousands? Millions? I guess I struck a nerve there, huh, Gus? Not all conservatives believe the solution is to go to war, Gus, but neither to we try to pretend that there is another course, when there clearly isn't.

But by all means, defend The "Clinton Policy of Regime Change", for all the good it did.
Just keeping you updated
I love when Poland takes jabs at Russia. Very entertaining!
"The presence of president Wojciech Jaruzelski (at the 60 anniversary of the end of World War II in Moscow) is yet another slap in the face from Moscow."

Jaroslaw ("yar-O-suave")Kaczynski ("Catch-EEN-ski"), leader of the Law and Justice (PiS) party on the Russian side extending invitation for May celebrations to the former communist president of Poland Gen. Wojciech Jaruzelski.
I just watched a documentary on the military channel, of the German & Russian invasion of Poland, and man it sure looked weird to see a horse mounted calvary facing off with a mechanized division.

The Poles bravery in an un-winnable situation was inspiring.

I was going to comment here the other day about how undiplomatic and ill timed it was for Poland to name a street after a Chechen, especially considering the Chechens helped the Nazis in Russia, but now I cant imagine the Poles every forgiving their German and Russian neighbors. After what they did to Warsaw, I would never be able to resist the urge to kill every German or Russian that came within range. If I was Polish I wouldn't be real happy with the French or British either, but in reality if either had come to Polands aid at the time they would have been crushed as well.

Seems to me Poland just didn't have the economic base to hang with the German military buildup, and I guess in that respect nothing has changed. They are still in a bad neighborhood if economic decline starts fueling German nationalism again, which I think I see the early signs of. But it does appear the Germans have the Turks in their sights this time.

Still, I must admit my hatred for the French has grown to such an extent that if they ever needed American assistance again, I would be first in line with the anti-war idiots to protest extending the French any help. Their memory span is too short, and their hatred for America rivals mine for them.
Red,

Q: When a Pole is being attacked from one side by a German and another by a Russian, which one does he shoot first?

When Stalin was debating Britain's foreign minister over the fate of Poland (I believe at Yalta), Roosevelt too was present. He fell asleep.

Once a Pole told me:"Poles make great heroes, and terrible citizens." The heroics of the Poles in WWII is indeed amazing. Look up "The Kosciuszko Squadron" -- Polish fighter pilots flying for the British. I believe they counted more "kills" than any British squadron.

Churchill on Polish fighters: "Never have so many owed so much to so few."

That Poland didn't have the economic base for the German buildup is right, but they were on their way. The period between wars was 20 years of prosperity for the Polish state that were turned to dust. They even beat Russia in a short war during that period.

I don't share your fear of German nationalism turning into more aggression -- Germans for the most part are extremely ashamed of their past, and the mechanisms of the EU make it almost unthinkable. Poland provides too many cheap goods and services for Germany to want to go to war. Turkey is another question, but I'm positive that the vast majority of Germans will not let the country revert to its bigoted past.

And finally, I don't think the French's hatred for Americans rivals yours for them. It's my experience that the French generally like Americans, although they get annoyed at their politics. If you think that their nose-snubbing is directed only at Americans, think again -- they're a vain culture, and behave that way towards everybody. And don't take Chirac as representative of all French. I wouldn't want anybody taking Bush as a representative of all Americans!
I ought to add that the Chechen issue is not a burning one here in Poland.

If Poles are naming squares and streets after Chechens, it's not because they feel some kind of brotherhood with them, or because they necessarily sympathise with them. Indeed, the Beslan massacre last year finished off any sympathy left here for them.
Polish Military Court Convicts Officer Of Spying For US
Hey Gus, a question about blogger's built-in commenting system. If someone comments in an old article in your archives, how will you know it?

Do you have some type of notification, or do you have to open a thread just like your readers do?
I've set up my comments system on blogger so that I'm emailed the text of each comment.

Opposition parties are appealing to Prime Minister Marek Belka to hold ano-confidence vote in the Sejm in early April. If the vote were to becarried it would allow parliamentary elections to take place in June. Thevote of no-confidence can be passed with a majority of votes in the Sejm. IfBelka called for a vote it would present an excellent opportunity for theopposition, as the only parties against such a move are the Democratic LeftAlliance (SLD) and the Labor Union (UP). "We appeal to Marek Belka to turnwith the vote of no-confidence to the Sejm as soon as possible. If he willnot, this will mean he is dishonest like the SLD and wants autumn elections," said Polish Families League's Zygmunt Wrzodak. The head of the CivicPlatform (PO) Jan Rokita on the other hand remains cool and advises to stopthe discussion concerning the date of the elections. "All normal people knowalready that neither Aleksander Kwaśniewski nor Marek Belka want earlyelections. Only the SLD is brave enough to officially support the autumndate," said Rokita.
Looks like a bunch of evil white men to me, are there no women or minorities in Poland?
Very few minorities, very few. You can be nearly sure that if you see a tall black man in Poland, odds are he's an American brought in to play for a local basketball team.

And I don't know of any minorities in Parliament, although the Foreign Minister, Adam Rotfeld, is Jewish, and even survived the Holocaust.

As for women, there are a few in Parliament, but none in such a position of power in a party to run for a top spot in the government. One refreshing exception is Danuta Huebner, who is a member of the European Parliament, and an independent.

Kwasniewski's wife was floated for president a year ago, and she even enjoyed the lead in the polls for a while. She quickly dropped out however, when her husband was implicated in one scandal or another.
Russia Made Poland Apologize
Another broken promise?
Concerned about Americans in debt?
Russia Lashes out at Poland Over Maskhadov Comments
Blogger problems
Good Job! :)
Hausner resigns
Out of control
Great post, gus.

You have correctly identified the dichotomy in this country. As you might have guessed, I agree with some parts and not others. :)

I object a great deal to people who complain about the society that we live and then continue to support it financially. That, as you correctly pointed out, seems to occur with those on the right than on the left. If you don't like what's on TV, TURN IT OFF. Get rid of your cable. The answer is not to ban it or 'regulate' it, which I am against, the answer is to not partake. Same with movies, clothes, and TV personalities. If you object to what a 'star' thinks, don't support them so that they are an icon with a platform to be able to do that.

But I do object to the idea that there are not or should not be standards; ie the idea that no one's 'morality' is superior to another. Now before you go accusing me of censorship, etc, I'm just saying that we establish arbitrary standards all the time, for everything. The ultimate endpoint of the pervasive idea that all moralities and standards are equal is Soviet Russia, and anyone can see the result of that: "No power, authority, or morality exists above that of the state, so if the state decides that it should.....I don't know....starve, imprison, or kill a few million of you....well....."

In addition, I also reject the idea that there is not a sect of our population that should be protected from deceitful or predatory practices that allow exposure of minors to adult or illegal practices. Go to whitehouse.com and you'll see what I mean. I don't want my kid who stumbling into a porn site or an S&M chat room because he's trying to do a report on Congress.

Believe it or not, most of us "conservatives" would prefer to keep government out of those kinds of decisions. Don't read too much into what the media tells you about what "morals" and "values" of the 'right'.

And the left's perception of how they should mimic that electoral success is not a good guide, either.
Ive said before Blogging might be the CB radio of the 00s. Everybody that had to keep their opinion to themselves all their lives are currently intoxicated by the ease of self-publishing. If the media and government really wanted to stifle bloggers they somewhat could with regulations, over- advertising and pricing hosting above market value. The fact that it is free now should make it unsustainable in the long run.

It appears to me that you are starting to show the early signs of Blogger burnout as well.

I have been spreading my bullshit opinions in the blogosphere for over a year now, and when I started I could easily generate new material every night, and had a several posts backlog in my head that I wanted to get to in the future. But at a certain point you have already said pretty much everything you had on your mind, then you risk being overly repetitive. People can only hear me say so many times how I want to wage the war on terror and win the cultural holy war, then it becomes less shocking every time. Everybody at my blog knows my opinion on a subject before I even give it now.

I think thats why Steven Den Beste (The only Blogger I have ever really faithfully read) abandoned his blog. I think he had said all he had to say and now he is prepared to let his archives stand as a snapshot of his brilliant mind during a war.

Since I have been blogging I have watched many people abandon theirs, after coming to the realization of what a monumental waste of time keeping an online diary is. Like you said, surfing the "next blog" will show you how much abandoned trash is out there, with people that quickly realized they had nothing to say, and better things to waste their time on.

I on the other hand was a geo-political news junky way before I discovered blogs, and another excuse to keep my lazy ass in the recliner just makes it too easy to blog. The format at my blog allows me to go indefinitely without having to generate new indigenous material, and the addition of additional contributors eases the burden even further, while at the same time broadens the scope of material there. And the daily news itself provides a new talkin point everyday. I really preferred just commenting on the news more than Blogging anyway, and now I get to do that on stories I didn't already read before I posted them, and that makes it even more enjoyable. Plus its always nice to be the King ;-), and not having to moderate my opinions to fit into someone else's posting policy frees me to be as vulgar as my guest will tolerate.

Thats also a liability as well though. I cant be as combative as I used to be at the CP, for fear of alienating an otherwise like minded guest or appearing to side with one over the other in a heated discussion. I'm sure you have noticed your wingman has dis-engaged recently. You have to dance with the ones that brung you, while also being accommodating to the newbie. Sometimes in balancing those concerns your message gets moderated or dropped altogther in the name of stat watching.

I think geo-political blogging is here for the long run, but I think the total number of active blogs will decline when most normal people move on to the next killer app. However if my readership dried up, I think I could "hang it up" as Pass did pretty easy, and get back to more productive wastes of time myself.
sorry gustav, no loaded meanings. i was pretty one-dimensional on that post. i hope your sitting down gustav, because although i was thinking about controls that, say, the chinese government imposes on the information superhighway, i was also thinking about the republicans and the religous right. i may be a card-carrying member of each group, but i gotta say that for many of the same reasons d.c. stated above, i break step with the regulation wing (the more vocal bug-up-the-ass crowd - i think they thrive on the notoriety they get from their incendiary speech) . obviously everyone would sooner have society willfully reject the things they find distasteful than having to deny those offending. but if they won't reject those things which don't hurt me, i'll generally fall in the 'let em be' category (and, yes, i have exceptions where it amounts to poking my nose into others' business). i wore my seatbelt long before it was a law, but i think seatbelt laws are wrong. i'm not a smoker and don't particularly enjoy the smell of cigs, but i think many smoking laws are wrong (such as forcing businesses to be smoke-free). i don't mind steps taken to protect children, but i think adults shouldn't be denied in order to provide this protection.

voluntary restriction. hrc recently that the pro-choice crowd has got to stop getting so many damn abortions. on this particular issue i'm in favor of a lot more regulation, but the senator has staked a position similar to where i am on so many others. just because i believe that pornography is protected by the first amendment doesn't mean i have to watch x-rated movies lest my right be taken away.

i thought of over-controlling dems as well, but i thought they would find a way to tax blogging into submission. or avoid all regulation such that blogging becomes impractical - like not restricting spam because of a free speech argument or some such thing.
Just throwin' it out there
it seems to me that a substantial portion of people will always want to be heard. so long as blogging remains relatively inexpensive and relatively unrestricted among key populations, it seems that blogging fills a niche in providing the most suitable outlet for us lesser mortals to opine. that would make it more of a service than a fad. to end blogging would mean replacement with a different system. an improved system of disseminating ideas seems about as likely as microsoft coming out with an improved spreadsheet in their next version. i can't imagine where technology will take us from here. maybe blogging ends with the downfall of the written word, with machines that can read and organize my thoughts and implant ideas of others directly to me w/o having to read them. perhaps we're near the pinnacle of human thought and the next step is to regress to a fahrenheit 451 (or was it 1984?) state of reciting lines of a script back to the television. without interference from over-controlling governments and with continued physical health of the internet, it seems that blogging, in some evolved shape that retains its current primary purpose, will have more permanence than just a fad.

ot... the war in iraq went from $158b yesterday to $154b today. suppose we finally got around to stealing some of our oil from the iraqis? ;-)
I hope you're right wafflestomper.

I enjoy blogging because I like checking in on folks whose blogs I like to read, and those with whom I've even built relationships blogging. I like conversing with them, exchanging ideas, etc. I also like --per your argument-- having my own soapbox.

I'm glad though, that bloggers like you and I seem to realize that blogging "provid[es] the most suitable outlet for us lesser mortals to opine", and not much more. Blogging has proven to be a helpful tool in keeping both the government and the media in check -- but just how powerful a tool is another matter. Over the past few weeks I've had to explain blogging to folks, some of whom had seen blogs and come to the conclusion that blogging is generally for hacks who want to express their opinions but aren't talented or articulate enough to get paid for it.

Earlier in the week there was a USA Today/CNN poll which found that nearly three-quarters of the public -- 74 percent -- is "not too" or "not at all" familiar with blogs.

Funny that there are some out there who seem to feel that bloggers have grasped some sort of cosmic power simply by finding an efficient way to express their opinions.

I finally broke down and told some of these folks: "Look, blogging is a hobby, like stamp collecting. I don't understand stamp collecting, and YOU don't have to understand blogging."

And there will always be some who feel that way. Just take a surf through the blogosphere with the "Next Blog" button at the top right of the page, and you'll see why. All of the crap there is truly disheartening.

Which is probably what many would say about this blog. Fine. I like communicating with my tiny readership, arguing with them, discussing with them, and every once in a while telling them something about Poland that they didn't know.

CoW Counter: If you neo-cons weren't keeping such close track of the Cost of War Counter, I don't know what I'd do! RT said virtually the same thing earlier when it had another blip. There are other counters out there, and they're very easy to post here. Maybe I should keep them all up and we can compare? Since having only one counter up seems to give you conservatives the impression that it is proclaiming the final truth, I can post several up there so we'll have a range with which we can estimate.

The point (which I can't believe is lost on you) is that whether it's 154 billion or 158, it's far too expensive. Follow the link and see that we could have fully funded global anti-hunger measures for 6 years for the same sum -- bitterly depressing.I can't say I disagree. (Some texans, charginghawks and stompers excluded)Flattery will get you nowhere. :lol:
New Format
It did seem to load much faster, and the center content is at the top of the page where it is supposed to be. The center content stuff did not start till under your left content blogsnob stuff the other day, but I did not want to say anything about it.

Right now the screen is a little bigger than my monitor can display (800x600), I have to use the bottom scroll bar to scroll over to the right to see all of your right content stuff.

These blogger tags are being "displayed" at the bottom of this particular post.

$BlogCommentAuthor$ said... $BlogCommentBody$

$BlogCommentDateTime$ $BlogCommentDeleteIcon$

And this comment box took about 40 seconds to open.

Overall I like the changes, but I was OK with the old one as well.
Thanks. I can see now that it's also not displaying your comments on the page.

It needs a lot of tweaking, but I got so sick of messing with the HTML in blogger that I went out and got Dreamweaver so that I could design it properly. I've set the width to 850 on purpose-- those extra 50 pixels means the page is less squished.

It does indeed seem to load much faster, so that's a plus.

And the comment box popped up almost instantly, so I don't know what's up with that.

The battle continues...
Hey....this time the comment boxed opened right from the main page...without having to open a post specific permalink then clicking "comment" again.

The comment box opened much faster this time as well...5 seconds.
;-)

Maybe now I can get back to actually blogging...
Polish PM seeks early elections
The motion was not held to a vote. Belka says he will insist on dissolution of the parliament on May 5, and elections by mid-June. During the debate, Belka said that it was time for the "political drama" to end. He told the opposition to "get to work" and that they were "on another planet."
The next PM
A battle wonYet another case of maniacal activist judges overruling the public's desires.Yup.

Is it really 'bloodlust', Gus, to expect someone to be held responsible for a heinous crime? Really? Hyperbole alert. John Malvo is responsible for the death of at least one individual and possibly more. He's seventeen. What is going to change between now and when he turns eighteen?